19th March 2002

PRESS RELEASE

CALL FOR MORE HOUSING SAYS GREEN PARTY AS DUN LAOGHAIRE-RATHDOWN HOUSING LIST LENGHTENS

The Green Party has called for more action from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Council to tackle the Housing Crisis.

Figures released to Councillor Ciarán Cuffe of the Green Party under a Freedom of Information request show that there are now 2,361 families and individuals on the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Housing list.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown plans to provide only 110 housing units within the County this year. This contrasts with a Programme of 900 housing units that was authorised by the Department of the Environment and Local Government for the period 2000 to 2003.

"The Council's housing starts this year are only a drop in the ocean compared to the scale of the Housing Crisis," stated Ciarán Cuffe. We need action from the Local Authority to tackle the problem. This could include some of the following measures:

-High density housing schemes beside proposed Luas stations

-Bringing forward the Coastal Action Plan to identify new housing sites

-Re-assessment of under-used green spaces to assess housing potential

-Increase in housing density on existing zoned and serviced land

-Concentration on overlooked smaller infill sites

-Measures to encourage older persons to 'down-size' from larger houses

ENDS

For further information contact:

Ciarán Cuffe              087 265 2075 or  618 3082